This blog is an exploration of principled problem solving which is an initiative at Guilford College encouraging a focus of people's abilities and experiences toward solving real-world problems under the guidance of the college’s core values of community, diversity, equality, excellence, integrity, justice and stewardship.

January 2014

01/29/2014

This past weekend the Guilford College Theatre department had its final showing of Neal Simon’s Rumors. This event was a great success. From an audience’s perspective it may have seemed very glitzy and glam but as an actor in the production this show was very down to earth. When looking at events that have really brought people together this semester it is the power of theater that really brought together a community. We talk about how diverse a community we are here at Guilford but we often do not gather together in shared events. At Rumors there were people of all ages and backgrounds. We had more staff members than I see in the lunchroom of free lunch Wednesday. It may sound like a silly comparison but rumors itself was a farce. Ordinary people were put in extraordinary situations and then had to live out the ridiculous consequences.

This event was an equalizer. Laughter makes people loose their inhibitions. When the lights go down people let themselves be transported into the world of the play in 1990’s New York. They can be happy and share in the mystery of the situations. This event turned everyone into a group that had to figure out what was happening. The shared experience of sheer confusion allows people to be vulnerable. It is this vulnerability that forms the basis of the community structure. People must be comfortable to express the joy and sadness they feel in order to live as a community.

The weeks following the show are always strange ones because you somehow turn into the college celebrity. People come up and talk like friends about the show to you. They invite you over for dinner sometimes; they want to relive the power they felt in the darkened room enjoying the time they spent in a crowded theatre event.

It is greatly important to have these artistic events here to bring both culture and to share the knowledge we have as a collective group. Guilford is a community that has gathered not out of necessity but by choice. This production’s audience is a direct representation because it is composed of reoccurring attenders who go on to bring more and more of their friend’s and families to share in the collective moment of awe.

We love stories. They are the basis of culture. It is the time taken to both listen to and respond to these stories that really exemplifies why going to see Rumors is the best example of a community event at Guilford.

01/23/2014

The level one understanding racism workshop is an introduction to the roots of systemic racism and a reflection of its affects in our society. Upon entering the space of the day long workshop, I observed the diversity of people that made the choice to also attend the workshop would be eye opening and difficult. Diversity in the room was not only in race and ethnicity, but also in age and geographic location. There were several visiting students from numerous countries in Africa, continuing education students, early college students, the list went on. It was refreshing to see that at a workshop concentrated on racism there was more than just one category of people present. All backgrounds were welcome and interested. One of the first things addressed was that this would be a place to build community and trust, and I felt this early on. We set some ground rules, as a community, to ensure that the space was open and accepting enough for individuals to express their thoughts without fear of being judged or scrutinized. For example, some of the white members of our community expressed the concern of being called racist or ignorant and feared that guilt would silence their questions and comments on the matter. But without this our conversations would be lacking and all the members of this workshop would not have been accounted for. A community trusts its members and thrives because of this. By incorporating everyone’s perspectives, thoughts, and ideas, we were more successful in understanding racism and its various forms than if we had not done so. We also were sure to recognize that this workshop did not stop at the marked ending of it. It was to continue outside of the four walls it took place in and into our own individual communities and further. We were all to take what we had learned and use it to learn more and interest others in our findings.

Throughout the day we participated in small group activities and large group debriefings and discussions. For one of my favorite activities we were assigned a fact about something in Greensboro; the infant mortality rate is highest among African American’s. Then we were asked to list some stereotypical interpretations of why this would be true. My small group, which consisted of a visiting student from a country in Africa, a continuing education student, and one other Guilfordian that I had not previously met, came up with the stereotypical interpretation that black women are promiscuous, have sex and get pregnant early, which results in young girls with infants that either cannot be taken care of after birth or cannot be born at all. Another stereotype is that black males do not support the mother of their children, resulting in lack of resources for the infant and ultimately death. We were then asked to pair each stereotype with a fact that supports that stereotype. Like that health care is scarce in African American communities making it almost impossible for mothers to receive prenatal and postnatal medicine. And, that in African American communities in inner cities and other poverty stricken areas in the United States, drug use is common and causes women and men to disregard their responsibilities.

The purpose of the exercise was to see both sides of a stereotype. Knowing one fact without the other leaves a grey area for anyone to make up a single story as to why the things that happen to a group of people. Knowing that the infant mortality rate is highest among African American’s in Greensboro, NC may lead someone to think these stereotypes, allowing them to blame the victim, without realizing that there are other facts that support the statistic. When all we hear is one story about one people we create stereotypes. After our large group discussion we watched a Ted talk on “The danger of a single story.” Chimamanda Adichie explains that these single stories (stereotypes) get passed around obviously and sometimes not so obviously. You only hear about one country in Africa and it masks all of Africa as that one country; that one story. This causes great misunderstandings in our everyday lives. The discussion that came after watching this video was probably reflected the most on how diverse the room was. This is because depending on where we come from and how we grew up we all have different “single stories” about all sorts of groups of people, including ourselves. Boiling everything down to one single story eliminates the opportunity of a person being anything they want.

This experience reflects most on the Guilford core values of community, diversity, and stewardship. As I stated before, this workshop worked through the lens of creating a community to learn and develop an understanding of racism in our society and how it affects every one of us. We all agreed upon the same goal by deciding to attend the understanding racism workshop, and agreed to work together to reach this goal. The diversity of our community increased the amount of perspective that was present. When engaging in activities, such as putting together a race relations timeline, it was beneficial to have members of all ages and backgrounds to integrate their knowledge. And just as the members of our group integrated their skills we were held accountable of doing the same in our community. This workshop was not just for the set day that it was held, but intended to enrich our community for the long term.

01/17/2014

The film “The Interrupters” is a film about a group of people in Chicago who try to stop violence before it starts. The film was very impactful to me because it gave me a viewpoint of what the conditions are in Chicago. Growing up in the inner city I have seen poverty and crime but never a group of people brave enough to try to stop violence in conflict driven areas. The core value that this film relates to is community. This film shows how when a community can come together positive things can happen.

The Violence Interrupters is an organization that tries to combat the violence that has been an ongoing epidemic in Chicago. The organization is made up of ex-gang members and members of the community who are tired of youth violence occurring on the streets. Every member receives training on how to diffuse situations and “interrupt” violence. The film follows three of the Interrupters and their daily struggle of what goes on in their community. The film brought to my attention the need for communities to stand up and make a difference.

The film was a part of a film series that occurred on Guilford College’s campus. The lead sponsor was the American Friends Service Committee, which is an advocacy group that promotes peace and justice. After the movie we debriefed by describing what the film meant to us. One girl said “It made me think of community in a different way, we have to help each other and cannot be numb to other people’s pain.” Community is about bringing people together, and that is what the film represented. Each interrupter got a chance to impact somebody’s life and gave them a different alternative than violence. They went inside the community and gave life to a community that for a long time knew nothing but death.

As a member of Guilford College’s Principled Problem Solving Scholars Program, the film left me thinking about other solutions to the problem of youth violence in Chicago. The film talks about economic support, which I think is vital in trying to revitalize a community. The youth need jobs and better schools and until the city of Chicago can provide that then unfortunately the violence will continue. The film helped me connect with Guilford’s core value of community in a lot of ways. It let me see that as members of a community we have help each other and love each other in times of downfall. We also cannot be afraid to speak up, and be brave enough like the Interrupters were to stop something that is detrimental to our community.

01/13/2014

On Monday October 21st I along with Chloe Weiner of Students Allied Against Privilege and Supremacy and Jorge Zeballos of the Multicultural Education Department gave a joint presentation on the border crisis and immigration problems here in the United States, North Carolina, and Greensboro. The presentation took place in the Multicultural Resource Center here at Guilford College. The topics that were covered included the history of the border, the implications of the actual border, overtly racist state laws like SB1070, the Corrections Corporation of America, Operation Streamline, and the consequences of NAFTA. We also discussed the non-profit No More Deaths/No Mas Muertes, whose mission it is to prevent death and suffering on the US/Mexico Border.

This non-profit is what brought all of us together to make the presentation in order to spread awareness about the multi faceted problem that is the border crisis. I had my first experiential learning experience about the border and immigration while out in the Sonoran Desert in Southern Arizona with No More Deaths. The work we did revolved around humanitarian aid. We mainly focused on providing food and water to people crossing by hiking the various migration paths and dropping off supplies at predetermined areas mapped out years ago by No More Death volunteers. This area has turned into a ruthless graveyard littered with the broken remnants of people’s stories, stories which are filled with hope and despair, suffering and solidarity. There are empty water bottles, broken backpacks and various other types of clothing scattered all over the trails that crisscross over mountains, through canyons and across cow pastures. There are also shrines put in place by migrants to remember and honor those who have perished in the desert, known or unknown.

While I was in this desert hiking one of the many trails I discovered a bra, lying there in the dirt surrounded by sanitary pads. It provided a visceral reminder to certain instances of suffering that occur on the border. Many women who cross are warned by their doctors before their journeys to go on some sort of oral contraceptive because it almost definite that they will be sexually assaulted in some manner while out in the desert.

This experience has never left me. I went to go volunteer with No More Deaths not really having an idea about what I was getting myself into but soon learned more than I had hoped and decided after that trip last spring to start bringing my knowledge and experiences back to the community here at Guilford.

We packed a ton of information into the presentation, which lasted about an hour with an in depth discussion following. Even though the event took place the Monday after everyone got back from fall break and had an unsurprisingly low turnout (about 7 people) we were able to foster great and personal discussions after presenting our knowledge about the issue at hand, mostly because of the intimate setting.

Community was brought together in light of a very hard to digest issue facing not only our nation but also our North Carolina, Greensboro, and Guilford College communities. It was great to see people gathering together from all walks of life to work in solidarity to spread awareness about such an important topic and educate themselves in the process. In this way did Guilford's core value of community really shines and shows its importance for me. I came to realize even more how important it is to create communities of knowledge and solidarity in order to facilitate outreach and important discussions about issues so that change can be made.

These final two images are of water that we dropped off in the desert while volunteering with No More Deaths.

01/03/2014

Ahhh, the crisp clean air, the serene atmosphere, and the
scenic view, all are expectations of a lovely get-a-way in the beautiful
mountains of North Carolina.

Recently, I was privileged to attend a Sullivan Foundation
Service and Social Entrepreneurial retreat hosted by The Algernon Sydney
Sullivan Foundation, held at Kunuga Conference in Hendersonville, North
Carolina. This retreat is designed to bring students together, providing them
with tools to help them think about social issues and ways that they can
possibly create social entrepreneurial ventures or projects to bring about
change. Although the ride there was pleasant and quite
relaxing, as I sat in the front seat of a black minivan, gazing out the window
looking at the trees just beginning to change to their fall colors of yellow,
orange and brown, my body was under the weather and all I wanted to do was
crawl up in my bed and go to sleep. I tried to imagine what the weekend would
bring but the throbbing of the pain in my head would get me no further than the
thought of sleep.

As we pulled into the site, I began to really think about
social entrepreneurship and what this retreat would mean for me. Being that
this was the first time I had attended such a retreat, I didn’t really know
what to expect. All I knew was that I wanted to make a difference and bring
about social change, not globally but in the communities and neighborhoods that
I pass on a daily basis.

The opening night was amazing, from the icebreaker of
playing follow the leader as we all mimicked the facilitator dancing around,
waving our hands in the air, and just being silly, to the community building segment
where everyone had an opportunity to say what they were hoping to take away
from the weekend, to sitting by the fireplace in the fireplace lounge listening
to the facilitators tell us what their intentions were for the weekend, and
finally, to meeting so many motivated young adults all with the mindset of
creating businesses, ventures, or projects all for the cause of social change.
I knew I was in for a treat and although my body wanted to crash, my brain knew
I had to be alert in order to get the most out of the weekend.

Each session that was given provided us with vital
information, such as design thinking, which is “systematic development of
creative ideas that meet real needs in the world,” to understanding the
difference between entrepreneurship, business ventures, and social
entrepreneurship, to making connections. All of the information was
powerful but the part of the weekend that will resonate with me happened during
the open space exercises. This was a time where we broke up into small groups
and talked with a facilitator about one or two specific areas of interest. My
group was interested in finding role models and mentors. Something that stood
out to me was that a role model is not always someone older or someone even
wiser, a role model is someone that is admired by others and inspires one to be
the best he or she can be. A mentor, on the other hand, is a trusted counselor
or guide. Sometimes when you are in search of a mentor, depending on who you
are seeking out, it can be a little intimidating to even approach the person. Some
basic principles that I took away from the retreat are as follows:

Be prepared beforehand.

Have questions ready in advance and practice
them so that you are comfortable with what you need to say.

It is an honor to be asked to mentor someone so as long as
you are prepared you won’t be wasting the time of the person you are reaching
out to.

Outside of being a little under the weather, this retreat
was one that was well worth it. The Sullivan Foundation is doing an amazing job
and I am forever grateful for the opportunity to have spent such a powerful
weekend with so many awesome people. So remember, what goes on in the mountains
with The Algernon Sydney Sullivan Foundation, must definitely be shared with
the world.